The Tree
by redex
Summary: PG only for shounen-ai. Tala decideds to do something for the holidays. [oneshot]


Heya all. I know this is a bit late, but I like it. I wrote it for the redblade.org Christmas contest so it's a bit short (900 words or so). This is mildly Tala/Bryan, but not much.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own.  
  
~`~,*|*`~,~  
  
Tala reached up just a little higher and placed the small angel on top of the tree. He stepped down from the small footstool and stood back to survey his work. His lips curled upwards in a small personal smile of satisfaction. The small red, yellow, and green lights cast a soft glow over everything in the room, making the walls look like a stained glass window. The small ornaments, odd and mismatched, were scattered over the tree's branches. A few of the bulbs were hanging from bent paperclips.  
  
He had spent the entire afternoon, first salvaging a tree, then heading out to the stores to find some things to decorate it with. The angel was his coupe de triomphe.  
  
He had found it on the sidewalk a while ago, when the Christmas rush had first started. He had let it lay in the snow for a day to see if anyone would come and collect it, but when no one did he went out and took it in.  
  
He had moved the few presents from one of the tables to under the tree.  
  
He stepped around it carefully, fixing a bauble as he passed, and went into his small kitchen. It was remarkable neat for what one would expect of its younger inhabitant.  
  
He searched around one of the cupboards for a moment before pulling out a tin of hot chocolate and a mug and putting a kettle-full of water on to boil. He sat down at the small round table and flipped through the pile of mail lying in front of him with a sigh, suddenly feeling old and tired.  
  
Bill, bill, ad, junk, bill, some money from a part time job he had done over a month ago...  
  
He sighed again and stood up as the kettle screamed. After pouring himself out some water and adding the chocolate powder with some milk retrieved from the fridge, he sat down again, pushing away the envelope.  
  
He carefully set the check to the side and went through the last few pieces of mail. The last envelope caught him by surprise.  
  
It was a light blue with a border of snowflakes, a snow covered hawk in the top left corner and a wolf in the snow in the opposite one. He smiled at the choice, his hard blue eyes softening somewhat at the contented look on the animals' face.  
  
He blew off the steam from the top of his mug before taking a sip and flipping the envelope over. He carefully used his fingernail to pry open the back; someone had obviously liked licking the glue to stick it shut.  
  
When he pried the last little bit open he pulled out the card hidden inside. On the front there was a painting of a wolf matching the one on the outside with the hawk flying overhead. The snow was falling in a picturesque way it hardly ever did.  
  
He opened the card and read the words written in a simple but elegant hand that spoke to him of Kai.  
  
"We're thinking of you. Hope you have a wonderful holiday and we'll hopefully see you again soon."  
  
Tala smiled. Short and to the point; like it would be any other way with him. Underneath there were four signatures: Tyson's simple and large at the top, then Max's smaller and neater underneath his friend's. Next were a few characters he guessed were Rei's name and then Kai's last, the same as his writing.  
  
Taped to the back of the card he found a small ornament, beautiful in its simplicity. A small silver snowflake caught in a glass bubble hung from a thin red ribbon taped to the fine paper of the card.  
  
Written in small Russian characters underneath the ornament was a small note.  
  
"This snowflake will never melt. I hope your love does the same."  
  
Same old Kai, always with the hidden messages. Tala wished he could see his friend more often; they never had enough time together.  
  
He carefully peeled off the tape and hung the ornament from his finger. He placed the card on the counter where it would be easily seen and then took his ornament over to the tree.  
  
Biting his lip, he looked from the small new treasure to his raggedy tree. Could he really put this on here? Then he decided: "this is from my friends. It doesn't matter to them where it goes, as long as I keep it."  
  
He found the perfect place on a branch about eye-height where it would be easily seen and would hang unhindered. He watched as the glass and metal twinkled in the dying light.  
  
He heard the door click open and didn't bother looking up to see who it was, knowing the footsteps. There were a few thumps as things were set down on the floor and then quieter steps as unclad feet moved towards him.  
  
Here Tala looked up, wanting to see what the reaction would be to his hard work.  
  
A pale-haired teen Tala's age stood in front of the tree looking surprised. He glanced from Tala to the tree and back again, his gaze clearing asking "where did this come from?"  
  
Tala walked over to him and pulled off Bryan's coat, letting it drop from his hand to the chair beside him.  
  
"I did it," he murmured, his arms wrapping around his lover's waist from behind. "For you. Happy Birthday."  
  
~`~,*|*`~,~  
  
So tell me what you think. No flames, please. 


End file.
